High fidelity systems attempt to simulate the sound that comes from actual sound-producing objects. Real music is produced when each of a plurality of different instruments, at a different location, produces its own unique sound. Each instrument also has unique sonic tuning characteristics. The real music is produced from these instruments, at different locations, producing sounds. Producing a simulation of this real music is the objective of a high fidelity music reproduction system.
Movies, in contrast, actually have a different objective for their sound production. In the 1980s, movie sound became a format with multiple channels providing the sound output. This format, called surround sound, produced five or more channels of sound. The channels included left and right main channels for stereo music. A center channel was used for mono parts of the reproduction such as the voice. In addition, left and right surround channels were provided for special effects. In addition, additional channels may be provided for sound having special characteristics such as sub woofers. This sound system attempts to produce the feeling of actually being part of the action depicted by the movie.
The present inventor believes that an ideal musical reproduction, like real music, should produce the sound from a plurality of instruments, each coming from its own tuned source that has tuning/music reproduction characteristics that is most closely representative of the instrument. The current system of stereo reproduction reproduces most, if not all, instruments, from two different sources (speakers), both of which are tuned the same.
According to the present system, information is produced for reproduction by music reproduction hardware. The information as produced has a number of separated parts. That is, each stream of audio information, such as a song, may have separated parts that form that stream. In one embodiment, those parts may be tracks on the audio reproduction medium.
The separated parts are adaptively associated with different music reproduction hardware based on the actual characteristics of the hardware producing the music. That is, for example, the violin sounds may be produced by the speaker most closely tuned to violins. Another speaker, e.g., most closely tuned to horns, may reproduce the horns.
Another aspect automatically determines specific characteristics of the hardware, and forms a file indicative of those specific characteristics of the hardware. The contents of that file is used to adaptively associate the content of the media, e.g., the music, with the hardware.